Rapids Fall 2-0 to Austin FC

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MLS Colorado Rapids

Rapids Fall 2-0 to Austin FC

June 7, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release


The Colorado Rapids (6-7-4, 22 pts.) fell at home to Austin FC (6-7-3, 23 pts.) by a final score of 0-2 at DICK'S Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night. A goal from Mikkel Dessler and an own goal were enough to give Austin all three points.

COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH CHRIS ARMAS

Opening Remarks... "Look, there's not a whole lot to open with here, other than real disappointment on the night. It's not something we're going to sit and rub our own faces in it. It's a missed opportunity. Four the next five, I believe, at home. There is more to come in terms of opportunity. Disappointing, always, for our fans that came out in big numbers that don't leave truly satisfied, and a locker room full of guys that put a lot into things around here all week. There was a good feeling about good training and lots of things that we were working on, and to not get the reward for that, again, it's disappointing. Nothing to celebrate tonight, for sure, but we take an honest look and look forward, and that's what we'll be focusing on. Recovering and getting ready for next weekend and get a big three points before for the break."

On the club's recent injuries... "Injuries are part of it, yes. Rafa [Navarro] was out, [now] getting sharp again. Cole Bassett, of course. I think if you look around the league, most teams will be dealing with some injuries to different key players, and we have to accept that. Around here, the mindset and mentality is the next man up. If it's not for injuries, the Nico Hansen story doesn't get to be seen. For me, that's never a good thing. We want guys healthy, but I think if we just talk about tonight, the early goal hurts, right? Was it going to be a race to the first goal? Maybe, if it goes completely the other way. But, we had 14-15, shots from the goal zone inside the box, we were probing, we were pushing. I think if we get that first one, the second one could follow. Goals change games, and we couldn't get ours tonight. The injuries are real. We don't ignore it. It's part of the challenge, but they certainly weren't, for me on the night, what costed us three points."

On how he felt the team attacked on the night... "I think you're right, Matt, I appreciate that. I think on another night there's three [goals]. Three or four big chances created. You can see, when we are looking to upgrade this shot, the fans are saying 'shoot' because we're trying to get that clear path to goal. Is it one pass too many? Is it perfect? Not sure. But I like that the guys were sticking to the principles in and around goal. Again, 15, I think of 16 shots were in the area we want to shoot from. I give Austin credit. They defended the goal well, they were blocking shots, putting their bodies on the line. We had a lot of guys sneaking in and around. [Darren] Yapi had a couple of free headers, Rafa [Navarro] gets one. Again, it's still the hardest thing to do: to get that right pass at the right time with the right pace. The goals are going to come for our team. We have a lot of guys up there that can do the job. I give Austin credit for defending that goal. Pretty strong tonight."

On how the team can improve their set piece performance... "In terms of set pieces, we've really been strong defensively. So, that part of it has been positive. I'm not sure who they credited the goal to that we conceded, was that an own goal? Really unlucky at that moment. On the attacking end, listen, there were a couple of free headers tonight too. The goals haven't come, but the seeds have been planted. We just have to keep at it - the deliveries, the runs, the timing, the ways to free up in certain spaces to attack. We'll look hard at it. Set pieces are such a big part of scoring goals, and we have to do like we do. The guys put a lot into the set pieces. So, we believe that we're going to turn that part around just by sticking to it and maybe looking closer at it."

On Josh Atencio leaving the match and overall depth to the squad at the moment... "Another game where Josh [Atencio] had a good game, right? He's strong. He's a good presence, breaking up a lot of plays, helping create attacks and build. Then you have to take him off, so you start moving some things around. Listen, if that means Connor Ronan comes to the game, you gain lots of other things. But in terms of Josh, he's a big presence. Then when you think you're pushing and probing to have to start making changes when we weren't tactically going to make changes, that's not ideal. The guys that that are out there, the guys that come in, the roles are there. We want to get better when those moves are made. So, we will look at it and see ways that make sure we're doing our part as the coaches. Those things are a little disruptive, when Josh is having a good game, to have to move things around."

On Nico Hansen's performance... "Well, for Nico [Hansen], it's certainly not a fluke or lucky. We see now a bunch of performances that are very mature and showing big quality. I think there's real talent with Nico, and I think he's got a real presence and maturity. He's hard to score on and he has this little sixth sense of how to stay big, or how to make the save, or stop a penalty. He bailed us out a lot tonight, but I think he's just a good young pro. He has a good process, a great mentality for a young guy, and he's talented. So, it's nothing magical, it's just a couple of really important ingredients that make good players, good."

On Zack Steffen's injury... "With Zack Steffen, I think things are looking like it's going to be relatively short term. He's having surgery on Tuesday. The doctors get to see more once they're inside, but we're hoping that it's a three to four week thing. I'm not going to put the timetable on it. We'll know after surgery early next week."

On how the team addresses their opposition's strengths... "I think we tend to take away teams' strengths. At Portland last week, not a lot of solutions until we went down a man. Tonight, we gave up a goal five minutes in against a team that's good in possession. They started moving us around and made it hard to get the ball back. I still think one of our strengths is to address teams' strengths and take it away. That's at least what I like to think. When we play against the very best teams in the league, LAFCs early on, I think we're getting better at that stuff. But again tonight, I think wasn't an example of that. [Brandon] Vázquez is dangerous on crosses, right? And there weren't a ton of threats, he got one clear header. [Osman] Bukari is a good one-v-one winger. When things were in front of Jackson [Travis], he did pretty well. When it got behind him, one-nil. We're still a young team, but I think we're a team tactically that's getting better and better to address the opposition."

On if the team was instructed to take tactical fouls... "No. Our guys know that if you have to take a yellow, you take a yellow. We'd rather give something like that up the pitch than a clear chance to could go somewhere. We talk a lot about fouling in transition to be a little more savvy and take the foul. We talk a lot about when guys are on yellow cards, how to manage that, and that comes with experience and savviness. But no, we talked about like what [Osman] Bukari, the threat he can have in one-v-one situations, in transition, and with speed. So, some of it was double teaming and some of it's trying to control the depth, which got us on that one play."

COLORADO RAPIDS GOALKEEPER NICO HANSEN

On conceding goals... "You just have to keep moving forward. When the ball goes in the back of the net, you can't dwell on it. As a goalkeeper, you have a short memory. It doesn't matter if it's your fault or not. A ball in the back of the net means there's a ball in the back of the net. You just have to keep moving forward. That's it."

On playing more games given Zack Steffen's injury... "I don't really think about upcoming matches that far ahead. I just take it one game at a time, to be honest. Football is a fickle game, and it can change quickly. I don't really think that far ahead and take every game as it goes."

On Rafael Navarro's own goal... "It's football. The other guy, I forgot who it was, [Brendan Hines-Ike] got the first contact on it, he glances it, and then it hits Rafa [Navarro]. You can't do anything about it. That's just how it is. They forced a coincidence, put a good ball into the box, and unfortunately that's what happens. It's tough. It's tough for Rafa. It's football"

On areas of focus going forward... "It's all about being patient and taking each moment as it comes. You can't think ahead. You can't try to make up moments. It's taking each action as it comes. Being patient, letting the game come to you and not forcing anything. That's how it goes. We work on it in training all the time. It's working on what we do in training and taking that to the game. That's it."

On how changes to the back line affect him... "We train together every day. It doesn't matter who goes in there, they're all good enough. They all have the talent to step in, anyone, across the backline and do a job. We all have good chemistry together. We're all good mates off the pitch so it's not an issue."

On the fans at home... "It's awesome. Unfortunately, we didn't come away with the result, but even then, you can hear them the entire night. We can feel their energy, their presence. They really will us on. We're, of course, disappointed that we weren't able to get them the three points, but they're always there for us. You can't say anything more. Yesterday when we had the open training session - all the people that showed up. They're just a great fan base. They will us on, they give us that second wind in the games and you can't ask for anything more."

- ColoradoRapids.com | @ColoradoRapids -

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